District Court (Ireland)
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The District Court (Irish: An Chúirt Dúiche) is the lowest court in the Irish court system[1] and the main court of summary jurisdiction in Ireland.[2] It has responsibility for hearing minor criminal matters, small civil claims, liquor licensing, and certain family law applications.[3] It is also responsible for indicting the accused and sending them forward for trial at the Circuit Court and Central Criminal Court.[4]
Jurisdiction[edit]
The district court is a court of local and limited jurisdiction.[1]
The civil jurisdiction is limited to damages not exceeding €15,000;[5] the court has no equitable jurisdiction.[6]
The court has the power to renew licences for the sale of intoxicating liquor and grant licences for lotteries.[7][8]
The family jurisdiction of the court includes the power to award guardianship, grant protection or barring orders, and award maintenance of up to €150 a week per child, €500 per week for a spouse or a lump sum up to €15,000.[9][10]
The criminal jurisdiction is limited to summary offences – i.e. offences heard without a jury where the maximum punishment is 12 months imprisonment.[11] Indictable offences may also be tried by the court provided the accused, the judge and the Director of Public Prosecutions agree.[11][12] In such a case the maximum penalty imposed by the judge for the indictable offence can not exceed 12 months imprisonment. Murder, treason, rape and aggravated sexual assault are crimes that can not be disposed of summarily in such a manner.[13] Bail hearings for offences triable by both the District Court itself and the Circuit Court are heard here also with a right to appeal to the High Court for a refusal to grant bail.[14] Most of the offences are usually minor as the more serious cases are sent to the Circuit Court and Central Criminal Court. The District Court continues to hold indictment hearings for the more senior criminal court, although since 1967, the court no longer has any discretion whether or not to send forward the accused, as long as the DPP serves a book of evidence on the accused.[citation needed]
Appeals[edit]
All judgements of the District Court in both civil and criminal trials can be appealed to a de novo hearing in front of the Circuit Court.[15] The decisions of a District Court judge can also be judicially reviewed by the High Court.[16]
Organisation[edit]
The court consists of a president and sixty-three judges. Although, strictly speaking, there is just one District Court, in reality for the purposes of the administration of justice the country is divided into a Dublin Metropolitan District (covering the same area as the Garda Síochána's Dublin Metropolitan Area) and 23 District Court areas.[17] At least one judge is assigned to each District Court area and a significant number of judges are normally assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan District.[18] The District Court sitting in a particular location is normally referred to as (name of town) District Court, e.g. Tullamore District Court.
Judges[edit]
Judges of the District Court, other than the President, are styled e.g. Judge John Smith (or sometimes, as District Judge John Smith, or simply Judge Smith) and addressed in court as "judge" (Irish: A Bhreithimh). Prior to the Courts Act 1991, judges of the District Court were known as justices of the District Court or commonly as district justices and styled e.g. District Justice John Smith or Justice Smith (N.B. not Mr Justice Smith as this was and is the style of a superior court judge).[19]
The President, as an ex-officio judge of the Circuit Court, is entitled to the style of a circuit judge, so is styled e.g. His/Her Honour Judge Smith instead.
President of District Court[edit]
The President of the District Court was established under the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act 1961 Part 4.[20]
| Name | Term of office |
|---|---|
| Peter Smithwick | 1988–2005[21] |
| Miriam Malone | 2005–2012[22][23] |
| Rosemary Horgan | 2012–2019[24] |
| Colin Daly | 2019–2021[25] |
| Paul Kelly | 2021–present[26] |
Children Court[edit]
The Children Court is an ancillary court of District Court, whose role is to deal with minor offences and most indictable offences where the defendant is below the age of 18.[27][28]
The Dublin Metropolitan Area has its own permanently sitting Children Court centre in Smithfield, Dublin, while across the rest of the country the Children Court usually sits in the same location as the District Court, but on different times and days.[27]
History[edit]
The current District Court was established in 1961. However, the jurisdiction vested in it stems from the earlier courts of petty sessions. Petty sessions were originally held by justices of the peace, who were lay people (and in Ireland, typically members of the Protestant Ascendancy), as preliminary hearings for quarter sessions and the assizes). From 1836, the justices acted under the supervision of resident magistrates. The Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 regulated petty sessions, organising the country into petty sessions districts and providing for the appointment of clerks of petty sessions.[29] A series of Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Acts, beginning in 1851, vested petty sessions with summary jurisdiction in minor criminal matters.[30] Both these Acts are still on the statute book, though heavily amended. In Dublin, the divisional magistrates exercised similar power to petty sessions under the Dublin Police Acts.
During the War of Independence, the Royal Irish Constabulary retreated to barracks, and petty sessions could not be held in most of the country. A system of Dáil Courts was set up by the First Dáil to replace them. A Dáil parish court exercised summary jurisdiction in IRA-controlled areas.[31] After the outbreak of the Irish Civil War, however, the Provisional Government decided to "revert" to the British courts, pending the report of a commission headed by Lord Glenavy on what would replace them.[32] It decided, however, immediately to make changes to summary jurisdiction by dismissing all remaining resident magistrates and terminating the commissions of justices of the peace, many of whom had resigned anyway. It then proceeded to appoint 27 new resident magistrates who would sit alone without justices of the peace, giving them the title of district justices.[33] The District Justices (Temporary Provisions) Act 1923 changed the name of petty sessions to district courts and confirmed the appointment of the existing district justices.[34] The Dáil parish courts were wound-up separately by the Dáil Éireann Courts (Winding Up) Act 1923.[35]
The District Court of Justice was formally established in 1924, replacing the renamed district courts and the Dublin Metropolitan Police Court.[36] The Courts Acts of 1961 replaced this court with the current District Court.[37]
References[edit]
- ^ a b "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court is the lowest court in the Irish court system. ... The District Court is a court of local and limited jurisdiction. This means it can only make orders or decisions on certain types of civil and criminal cases.
- ^ "District Court | The Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court is known as a court of 'local and summary jurisdiction'.
- ^ "Explaining the Courts" (PDF). assets.gov.ie. The Courts Service of Ireland. 2015. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court is organised on a local basis throughout the country. It deals with civil actions where the compensation claimed does not exceed €15,000. It also handles liquor licensing cases and a wide range of family law cases, including custody and maintenance of children and applications for barring orders. The District Court also deals with criminal matters such as drunk driving, speeding, assault, criminal damage and the initial hearings of serious offences to be tried in the higher criminal courts. A judge sitting alone deals with these cases. Consumers can use the small claims procedure in the District Court to recover sums up to €2,000.
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court Judge will send the accused forward to the Circuit Court or Central Criminal Court for trial once the book of evidence has been served and the DPP has agreed to send the case forward.
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court can only hear civil cases where the requested damages or compensation is less than €15,000.
- ^ "Injunctions Archives". Irish Legal Guide. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court does not have the power to grant equitable remedies such as an injunction.
- ^ "District Court Licensing | The Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Orders which must be submitted to the District Court office (or in Dublin - the District Licensing Office) for signing by the judge are as follows; wine off-licence - certificates; spirit, beer and wine off-licence - certificates; wholesale beer dealers licence - certificate; orders to amend the licensing register; certificates of revival - orders made under section 30 Intoxicating Liquor Act 1960; lottery / bingo licences
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court can also hear civil cases about: ... Licensing, for example, granting certificates for intoxicating liquor licences, certificates for auctioneer's, lottery licences, and licences for public dancing
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The District Court can also hear civil cases about: Family law, and can make decisions and orders about domestic violence, guardianship, maintenance and child care
- ^ "Maintenance orders and agreements". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Currently, in the District Court: A judge can only order a maximum of €500 per week be paid to a spouse and up to a maximum of €150 per week per child. The court order will specify how the maintenance is to be paid. The highest lump sum that can be paid is €15,000. The court may also specify how this sum is to be used.
- ^ a b "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
There are two types of criminal offences: -Summary or minor offences, which are tried by a judge sitting alone; -Indictable or serious offences, which can be tried by a judge and jury
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Indictable offences which can be tried summarily - Certain indictable offences can be tried summarily by a judge in the District Court if the following conditions are met: -The judge reviews the facts of the case and considers the offence to be a minor offence. -The accused is informed of their right to be tried by a jury in a higher court but agrees to be tried summarily (by the judge, alone) in the District Court. -The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) agrees to the summary trial in the District Court
- ^ "District Court". www.citizensinformation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
This option is not available for the following offences: Rape, Aggravated sexual assault, Murder, Treason and piracy
- ^ "High Court Bail | The Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
District Court bail - When you are brought before the District Court, the judge may either remand you in custody or release you conditionally when you enter into a bail bond with or without surety. The amount of money (if any) specified in the bail bond is set by the judge. The Director of Public Prosecutions can appeal the decision to grant you bail or the conditions of your bail to the High court. If the District Court refuses bail, you will be remanded in custody. You can appeal the decision to the High Court.
- ^ "Appeals to the Circuit Court | Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Decisions of the District Court can be appealed to the Circuit Court with some exceptions (e.g. an order dismissing a complaint and directing the complainant to pay costs; or a refusal to grant legal aid).
- ^ "Judicial Review | The Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Judicial Review is a mechanism by which an application can be made to the High Court to challenge the decision making processes of administrative bodies and lower courts.
- ^ "District Court | The Courts Service of Ireland". courts.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Composition - The District Court consists of sixty four judges including a President. The country is divided into twenty three districts with one or more judges permanently assigned to each district and the Dublin Metropolitan District.
- ^ "3. Calculating the judicial needs in Ireland | Modernising Staffing and Court Management Practices in Ireland: Towards a More Responsive and Resilient Justice System". www.oecd-ilibrary.org. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
There are currently 23 District Court districts across the country, plus the Dublin district, most with court locations in more than one town. Of the 64 District Court judges, there is one judge permanently assigned to 21 of the provincial districts, two judges permanently assigned to Limerick City and County, and three permanently assigned to Cork City. Some 20 judges are assigned as "moveable judges" serving across the provinces, and 18 judges, including the President of the District Court, are assigned to the Dublin Metropolitan District.
- ^ Coulter, Carol (10 April 2006). "Manner of addressing judges in court to change". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Judges of the circuit and district court are already addressed as "Judge", though previously district court judges were addressed as "Justice". They are also referred to in the third person as "Judge".
- ^ "Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
44.—The ex officio members of the District Court Rules Committee established by section 71 of the Act of 1936, as applied by section 48 of this Act, shall be the President of the District Court (who shall be chairman of the Committee) and such one of the district court clerks of the Dublin Metropolitan District as the Minister shall nominate in that behalf, who shall be secretary of the Committee.
- ^ Carolan, Mary (11 March 2022). "Peter Smithwick was judge 'who treated everyone' with respect, funeral told". The Irish Times. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
He was appointed president of the District Court in 1988 and retired from that role in 2005 to chair the Smithwick tribunal of inquiry into alleged Garda collusion in the 1989 murders of two RUC officers in south Armagh.
- ^ Healy, Tim (15 June 2005). "Tough task ahead for new district court president". Irish Independent. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
JUDGE Miriam Malone was sworn in yesterday as the new president of the District Court. She replaces Judge Peter Smithwick, who held the position for 15 years before his retirement last month.
- ^ "New heads of courts appointed". Irish Independent. 13 June 2012. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
The new presidents will serve a seven-year term. The vacancies arise as the terms of office of the serving presidents, Judge Matthew Deery and Judge Miriam Malone, ran out yesterday.
- ^ "Justice Marie Baker to go to the Supreme Court". www.lawsociety.ie. 27 November 2019. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
Judge Rosemary Horgan was educated at University College Cork and enrolled as a solicitor in 1979. She is currently a judge in the District Court and served as its president from 2012 until earlier this year.
- ^ "Colin Daly appointed to Circuit Court". www.lawsociety.ie. 23 December 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
District Court President since 2019 - Judge Daly was educated at Queen's University in Belfast and entered the Roll of Solicitors in 1997. He was appointed to the District Court in 2012, and became President of the court last year.
- ^ "Justice Paul Kelly named President of the District Court". Law Society of Ireland. Archived from the original on 23 September 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
- ^ a b "Children Court". Courts Service of Ireland.
- ^ Children Act 2001, s. 71: Children Court (No. 24 of 2001, s. 71). Enacted on 8 July 2001. Act of the Oireachtas. Retrieved from Irish Statute Book.
- ^ "Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Act, 1851". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ "Republican Courts during the Irish War of Independence". IrishCentral.com. 26 March 2020. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
- ^ Keane, Ronan (2001). "THE IRISH COURTS SYSTEM IN THE 21ST CENTURY" (PDF). Judicial Studies Institute Journal. Planning for the Future: 3.
Following independence, the executive council of the Irish Free State appointed a Judiciary Committee in January 1923 to recommend a new court structure to be established under the 1922 Constitution. The recommendations were implemented by the Courts of Justice Act 1924 and the structures which they established have remained in place, largely unchanged, to the present day. Although the judiciary committee was given wide terms of reference, its final recommendations broadly retained in being the structures that existed before independence, but with significant changes which reflected the experience of the Irish under what was seen to be a "foreign" legal system.
- ^ "Archived copy". supremecourt.ie. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-22.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "District Justices (Temporary Provisions) Act, 1923, Schedule 2". Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 22 January 2011.
- ^ Hanna, Henry (Justice); Pringle, A. Denis (1929). The Statute Law of the Irish Free State, 1922–1928. Dublin: Alex Thom & Company. p. 30. ISBN 9781561695096.
- ^ McNally, Gerry (2007). "Probation in Ireland: A Brief History of the Early Years" (PDF). probation.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
It is the first note in Dáil Éireann of financial provision in respect of probation activities following the passage of the Courts of Justice Act 1924, under which the Dublin Metropolitan Police Courts were abolished and one District Court was set up for the whole Saorstát (Dáil Éireann Debates, vol. 11, 1 May 1925).
- ^ "Courts (Establishment and Constitution) Act, 1961". www.irishstatutebook.ie. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
5.—(1) On the commencement of this Act, a Court of First Instance, which shall be called An Chúirt Dúiche (The District Court), shall stand established. (2) The District Court shall be constituted of the following judges— (a) a judge who shall be styled "Uachtarán na Cúirte Dúiche" ("The President of the District Court"), and (b) such number of other judges (each of whom shall be styled "Breitheamh den Chúirt Dúiche" ("Justice of the District Court")) as may from time to time be fixed by Act of the Oireachtas.
External links[edit]
- "District Court". Courts Service of Ireland.